China to establish ocean science research center

QINGDAO — An ocean research center will be built in East China’s Shandong province.

The Center for Ocean Mega-Science will be located in a science and education park in Qingdao, a coastal city in the province.

Thirteen institutes of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) including the Institute of Oceanology, will help establish the new center.

Work on the center is to be completed in December 2019.

Teams and talent from the 13 institutes will work at the center to integrate oceanology and other sectors, said Wang Fan, director of the CAS Institute of Oceanology.

The center will be home to a team coordinating the work of 10 research ships from subordinate institutes.

Wang, who is put in charge of the preparatory work for the new center, said they hoped that the projected facility would serve as an open base for innovation, capable of training talent in ocean science and offering support in expediting China’s building into a strong nation in oceanology and boosting its capabilities of exploiting marine resources.